Tag Archives: Andy Tobin

As noted in yesterday’s report, Tobin’s basis for a constitutional challenge to the IRC’s legislative map will be that the panel impermissibly deviated from the ideal population for each district to pack Republicans in fewer districts and spread Dems into more districts.

Senate President Steve Pierce said today that he has serious concerns about spending public money to sue the state’s redistricting commission – and even if lawmakers could be convinced to do that, he’s not sure it would be legal.

The Arizona House of Representatives announced today that it would hire attorneys Craig A. Morgan and Sharon Ng of Kansas City-based firm Stinson Morrison Hecker to investigate an ethics complaint against Rep. Daniel Patterson, who is facing criminal charges of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend.

House Speaker Andy Tobin has suspended the two committee assignments of Rep. Daniel Patterson, a Tucson Democrat facing an ethics complaint and related criminal charges accusing him of domestic violence.

Legislative leaders and Gov. Jan Brewer are hoping to jumpstart budget negotiations and thaw the relationship between them that saw the governor last month direct her staff not to meet with House and Senate staff.

The Governor’s Office and legislative leaders have reopened lines of communications involving the state budget, signaling a thaw over how to craft the state’s spending plan in the next few years.
Gov. Jan Brewer, Senate President Steve Pierce and House Speaker Andy Tobin met Thursday. After the meeting, Pierce said staffers from both sides could start working together as soon as this weekend.

Arizona officials have asked to replace federal standards under the No Child Left Behind act with state-level student performance standards and a school accountability system that they say will be more efficient and less burdensome.

The cash-strapped Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission will meet on Friday to discuss its ongoing budget problems.

The meeting – the IRC’s first since January – comes as the commission faces the possibility of running out of money before June 30, the end of the 2012 fiscal year. And uncertainty over the 2013 budget is even greater.